3 Lessons I Learned in Bali

It’s 8pm on my last night in Ubud, Bali and I couldn’t have enjoyed my time more.

Here are a few things I’m thinking, off the top of my head that I wanted to share with you:

#1: When we travel, we carry our lineage in our luggage.

My grandmother always wanted to travel the world. She dreamt of going to Paris one day. I think the few credits of French she took in college had a grip on her heart.

But she never even got a passport, and after getting stuck in decades of the grind, then getting sick, she never had a chance to leave the country. She died only imagining the places she wanted to see most.

That could make me really sad if I think about it.

Or I could be proud that even though she never got to leave, I’ve had the opportunity to travel the world. This year alone, I’ll have been to four continents — from Spain, to Morocco, to Greece, now in Bali, and tomorrow I’m off to Australia.

I look at the beauty of the world, and having spent so much time with her, I know exactly how she’d react to some of the incredible places I’m seeing. I can imagine her laugh and her smile. I can even imagine the jokes she’d make.

Especially the dirty ones 😉

Am I not made of her same flesh, bone and blood? Does she not travel with me, wherever I go?

Dana K. Wade (“Attorney at Law”) is quite literally inside me.

I’m not sad. I miss her immensely, but I’m grateful that she lives on through me.

Who lives on through you?

Wherever you go, your family goes, too.

#2: Personal development is the best gift you can give other people.

The caveat?

Nobody will thank you for improving yourself.

Nobody will ever say to you, “Wow, Susan. Thanks for taking the last 5 years to become more emotionally balanced and mature. I love how you treat me with generosity and respect, even when I don’t always give you the same consideration.”

But it’s true.

The time you spend working on yourself isn’t just for you. In fact, it’s mostly for other people.

When you work on yourself and learn to become a better person, that’s a gift that scales because your positive growth affects literally everybody you come in contact with.

Even if they never know it or give you praise.

#3: Kindness is currency.

One thing that has stood out most to me about Balinese culture is how kind everybody is.

The genuine smiles. The laughter. The courtesy and generosity of everybody here is astounding.

Coming from the chaotic, vain culture of Los Angeles, I have to admit, I found myself having trouble being completely open to it. It’s like I’m always waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I wonder when they’re going to try and get something from me or steal from me?

Daniel DiPiazza

Daniel is the founder and CEO of Rich20Something.
A millennial business mastermind, he has successfully started three consecutive freelance businesses and scaled them to over $100K in revenue with zero startup capital. His work is regularly featured in Time Magazine, Fortune, Entrepreneur, Business Insider, Fox News, and Yahoo! Business.
His debut book, Rich20Something, publishes on May 2, 2017.